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H. R. EVANS. DECU.

A.l K.. EvAN's. Ex'ecumx. Menon PICTURE APPARATUS. l APPLICATION FILED JULY I4, 1916.

Patnted July' 8, f 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. R.. EVANS. DECD.

Af-mums. Exacurmx. MOTION PICTURE-APPARATUS. 1.,.APPLlcAloN miv JULY I4. 191e.

- Patented July 8, 1919.

l 3 HEETS-SHEET 2.

H. R. EVANS. DECD.

A. K. EvANs, ExEcuTRlx. MOTION PICTURE APPARATUS. APPucATloN F|LED1uLY14,1916.

Patented July 8, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

dattozueto T 4 y intermittently beating or gripping the imrrnn sra'rus HENRY R. EVANS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.;

ADELE :man Evans nxuourrmx or'sfln v HENRY E. EVANS, DECEASED.

Morton-riemen .enmarca To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY It'. EVANS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, "city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 'in Motion-Picture Apparatus, of which Athe following is a specification.

My invention relates toymotion picture apparatus and more particularly to apparatus controlling the movements of the film past the gate in a motion picture machine.

One'of the objects of the invention is to provide means whereby the film may be moved intermittently past the gate at the usual or at a much greater speed, with less Wear and tear on the lm.

Certain features of the invention relate to what I will term beater forms of filmfeeding apparatus, and b the term beater I wish to be understoo as including any device that moves the film intermittentlyby lm between the gate and the draw off sprocket to pass it onwardly.

My invention consists in the novel features to be hereinafter described in their preferred form, and more particularly pointedout in the appended claims. Further objects and. advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of film-feeding mechanism for a motion picture machine, some arts of which are shown in section, embo ying the preferred form of my invention' Fig. 2 shows a similar view of a modification;

Figs. 3, tails of the device shown in Fig. 46 is a detail of the Fig. 1.`

It will be seen from the drawings that the invention relates to that type of filmu feedin mechanism in which. a loop is forme in the film on that side of the gate or window from which `the film is being fed ast the gate, and in which a beater is used or movin the film intermittently past the gate. Suc i mechanismI is commonly opento the objection that it gives rise to considerable wear of the film, and want of register of the picture with the gate. By my 4 and 5 are enlarged views of de- Fig. 2; beater shown in Specification ofjLetters Patent.

Patented July 8, i919D Application led July 14, 1916. Serial No.V 109,261.

invention these objections are eliminated or reduced, andicertain other features of advantage acquired.

In my co-pending application Serial Number 34,311, filed June 15, 1915, for motion picture apparatus, film-feeding mechanism in which the film is permitted to complete its stepping movements by momentum, andvv more particularly by its own momentum. I have found that in' some instances it ma be desirable to continue a greater impe ling force applied to the film 'toward the end of its stepping movement than is the case where the lm completes its stepping movement by its own momentum alone, and one ofthe objects ofthis invention is to provide mechanism in which the beater or any desired portion thereof that engages the film, is Vyieldably impelled and more particularly toward the end ofits film-feeding movement so that the film will be impelled during this part of its movement by a yielding force butgreater than if it were impelled by its own momentum only.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown. two forms of beater in each of which the beater is allowed to complete its lmfeeding movement by momentum.

Referring to the drawings, Fig, l, the film 1 passes over two feed sprockets 2, 3 which feed the film so as to` form a loop therein above a curved late 4.- and in adm Vance of the gate 5. 'ilhe film continues from this loop past the gate around the bottom surface of the beater 6 having a convex surface for engaging the film, and thence over sprockets 7, 8. The sprockets 2, 3, 7, 8 maybe continuous, intermittent or variable feed sprockets so long as they are so geared and driven as to form a loop in the film above the gate atthe desired time and to draw off the" film from the beater at the desired time and speed. 'Ihe beater 6 is driven by a cam wheel 9 having a slot 10 that is' engaged by a pin 11 projecting from the' beater. The cam wheel' is positively driven by any suitable gearing l0 and with due respect to the rotation of the sprockets 2, 3, 7, ,8, asis wellunderstood inthe art, yand therefore the connection is` not shown. The camzslot is such as to -cause the beater to reciprocate back and forth as shown by the double arrow in Fig. 1, and is further constructed, as will be understood from the I have described Y concave receiver surface,

drawing, so as to permit the beater to com-` plete its film-feeding downward movement by its own momentum; that 1s to say,` at this portion of the beater travel the cam surfaces are not engaging the pin 11 and the beater is allowed to drop by its momentum. The beater may be 4made of any desired-weight to suit conditions, or the force of the latter part of its downward movement may be varied' by any suitable means:

It is important in apparatus of this kind to have suitable means for definitely limlting the film-stepping movements; that is to say, for definitely limiting the movements of the film at each step-so that the pictures w1ll register at the gate; and for this purpose I provide, in conjunction with the yieldably impelled beater, means for limiting the stepping movements of the film. This device, 1n the apparatus shown inV Fig. 1, takes the form of a receiver 13 which has a surface 14 that is straight in cross-section but is concave, cupped or mold-like inlongltudmal section. This receiver 13 has a vertical extension in theJ form of a late 15-which has its central portion slight yrecessed, as indicated by the dotted line l5 in ig. 1, for the purpose of preventing the plcture portion of the film from scraping against this guide plate. The film-engaging surfaces of the receiver 13 and of the beater, are preferably of substantially the same contour 1n longitudinal section, so ,that lthe beater in drawing the film past the gate, forms it into a loop corresponding substantially to the contour of the film-engaging surface of the receiver or mold. When this shape takes the form of a loop one end of which is substantially in alinement with the plane of the gate, it will be seen that the bringing of the looped film into engagement with the forms a very positive stop for the film. The, upward continuation 15 of the receiver 13 in the form of Ia vertical or nearly vertical plate, prevents the film buckling when being thus suddenly arrested. As shown in Fig. 6, the beater preferably consists of two sector-like members 20, 21 bridged at their outer ends by a film-engaging arched plate 22 offset at that portion 23 thereof that comes in alinement with the pictures of the film so as to prevent the pictures being damaged by the beater action. This plate is provided with a suitable number of Ventilating perforations 24 which prevent any undue suction between the beater and the film surfaces which might otherwise tend to lift the film from the sur# face 14 ofthe receiver or mold as the beater is lifted. Not only is the surface of the beater that engages the film provided with the offset middle portion 23, but the film-engaging surface of the vertical guide plates such as 4 and 15, are so offset to prevent wear `on the picture surface.

In view of the fact that the film is yieldinglyimpelled during the latter part of its stepping` movements and is arrested by the receiver, it is not necessary to have the pressure of the pads`25-25 at the gate as great as is the usual practice, which is to have the pressure of these pads great enough to prevent the film over-runnin the gate by the beater action. These pa s are ordinarily relied upon for registration of the film and their pressure is so great as to cause excessive wear and tear on the film. But with my invention, upon to arrest the film or to hold it from movement as is usually done, but the tension is only suflicient to hold the film steady and to slightly retard the pulling action of the beater and prevent the film from moving upward when it strikes the surface of the receiver or mold 13. r

It will beunderstood, from the apparatus these pads are not wholly relied.l

shown and described, that the film is not drawn on the curved part of the plate 4 by the beater; that is to say, the loop is not drawn down upon this plate, and the plate merely serves in this instance as a guide for the film. In the apparatus shownin F igs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the film is fed by the sprocket 3 that is continuously, variably. or intermittently drlven in such manner as to form 'a loop above the gate 5 just over the curved portion of the plate 4 during thev period of rest, and this loop, by the beater mechanism now to bedescribed, is in this instance drawn down upon the curved plate 4, the beater completing its film-stepping movement under a yielding force, and the film 1s drawn off by a continuously operating draw-off` sprocket 7 from a loop formed below the beater. I Referring to the beater mechanism, the cam disk 26 is arranged to engage, by means of its projection 27, with a'bar 28 once in every revolution of the disk. The bar 28 forms part of a device which is carried as a who] 2929 pivoted at 30-30. ends the arms 29-29 carry a pin 31 upon which are pivoted two armsv 32-32 whose inner ends are connected together by the bar 28.l The connection between the bar 28 and the inner ends of the arms 32-32 is made a trifle loose to evenly distribute the driving force on the two arms. At their other ends, that 1s to say, their outer ends, the arms 3232 which are slightly cranked about the gusgtf the pin 31, carry gripping plates carry gripping plates 34-34 arranged to coperate with the plates 33-33. as hereinafter described, for gripping and feeding the film. A lilght plate spring 35 presses upon t e under side of the arm 32 when arms 32-32 are in such a position e upon arms At thelr o-uter film-gripping and feeding (Fig. 4)"

that thel gripping plates 33-33 ping' the film against the plates 34--34.

An eccentric 36 mounted to rotate with the disk 26 about the aXis 37, engages the jaws 38 of a lever 39 pivoted on the pinor shaft .30', The other end 40 of this lever 39 is arwhere it passes over the plate 4. The telescopic joint referred to comprises a spring 48 engaging with the under side of a head 49 formed upon the rod 42 in such manner that when the latter is moving upward it at first permits of a slight lost motion, as willbe readily seen from the drawings, and then the head 49 of the rod impinges upon the lower end of the rod 44 to lift the pad 47, while on the downward journey the pad, through this mechanism, is pressed'yieldingly upon the film.

As the disk 26 is positively rotated (by any suitable mechanism not shown, and in proper coperation with sprockets 2', 3', 7

yparts supported as is well understood) the nose 27 strikes the' upper edge of bar 28, thereby irst causing the gripper plates 33-33 tov grip the film against the plates 34--34, as is most most clearly seen in Fig. 3. In this action the arms 32-32 rotate about the center of the pin 3l. This locks the arms 32-#32 against further movement relatively to the arms 29-29, andthese four arms and the by them therefore move together downward about the Vaxis of pins 3030. Before, however, the film has been completely stepped, the nose 27 clears the bar 28 by reason of its path of movement with respect to that of the bar 28, and the rocker frame, as the arms 29-29 and the pin 31 are termed, continues its downward movement under its own momentum, together with that of the )parts carried by it. This downward movement of the-rocker frame and film is stopped by the iilm being brought down upon the curved part of plate 4 which acts as a surface to arrest the movement of' the lrn. AThis surface may be utilized with or without the aid of the anchor pad 47. This curved part of the plate 4, as shown in Fig. 5, is preferably straight in cross-section so as to' engage the film all the way across, although it need not be a continuous surface. However, the vertical depending portion of the plate which is always in engagement with the lm, has its middle portion 4 cut away or offset to avoid the friction of the picture-bearing portion of the film with the late, the idea being to revent unnecessary riction of the picture-bearing vention,

4 erating said part so t pelled during the latter ortion of the film with those portions .of the guide plate whiclrthe film would othervwise always lbe in contact with.

When the step has been completed, the lever 39 lifts the rocker frame from the position in which it is .seen in Fig. 2, to that 1n which it is seen in Fig. 4, and it remains in this raised position until again struck downp ward by the nose 27, the friction at the pivots 30-30 being sufficient 'to hold lit in its raised position. As in the case of the form of beater shown in Fig. l, the rocker frame and its parts may be 4made as light or as heavy as desired to suit any particular purpose.

in order to permit the disk 26 to rotate backward without damage to the parts, the nose 27 is preferably pivoted as shown at 55, andnormally kept projected outward, by a spring 45t from avrecess 57 provided, to receive the nose 4when 'the disk is rotated fin the wrong direction, in which recess it would be forced by engagement with the lower edge of the bar 28. The anchor pad 47 is applied just before the nose 27 strikes the bar 28, and is released immediately after, the step has been kcom leted.

While l have described two specific forms of beater shown in the figures herein, it will be understood that l do not limit myself to these particular forms of mechanism for permitting the beater to complete its movement under a yielding force, and that any suitable means .of impelling the beater so 'that it will be' yieldably impelled'during this portionofits movement, may be utilized. A

While have shown and described my invention with .respect totwo specific forms thereof, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after having understood my inthat 'variousv modifications and may be made therein without defrom the spirit. or scope of he invention, and l do not wish to be understood as limitin my invention other than'as indicated in t e appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. ln motion picture apparatus, the .combination of a gate past which a film is fed, means for feeding the lm to form a loop therein in advance of the gate, and means for feeding the film intermittently from the loop past the gate, said means including an operated iilm-engagin part and means opat it is yieldably imf art of its film-feed-l ind changes parting v.ing movements, and a ingA device having a surface against which the film is brought by the yielding force of said film-engaging member to 'arrest the filmso as to assist in 'registering it at the gate at the end of each stepping movement. 130

lm-movement-limitsurface against which the film is brought by the yielding force of said film-engaging member to arrest the film so as to.assist in registering it at the gate at the end of each step-ping movement.

3. In motion picture apparatus, the cornbination of a gate past Which a film is fed, means for feeding the film to form a loop therein in advance of the gate, and means for feeding the film intermittently from the loop past said gate, said means including a vbeater ,for enga-ging the film to move it and means operating the beater and having provision for permitting the beater to complete its filrnrfeeding movements by momentum, and a film-movement-limiting device having a surface against Which the film is brou ht by the yielding force of saidfilm-engaging member to arrest the film so as to assist in registering it at the gate at the end of each stepping movement.

4. Inmotion picture apparatus, the combination of a gate past which a film is fed, means for feeding the film to form a loop therein in advance of the gate, and means for feeding the film intermittently from the loop past said gate, said means including an operated film-engaging member and mechanism for operating said member to drive said member positively during a part of its film-feeding movement, and having provision for permitting said member to complete its film-feeding movements under a yielding force, and a film-movement-limiting device having a surface against which the film is brought by the' yielding force of said film-engaging` member to arrest the film so as to assist in registering it at the gate at the end of each stepping movement.

5. In motion picture apparatus, the combination of a gate past Which a film is fed, means for feeding the film to form a loop therein in advance of the gate, means for feeding the film intermittently from the loop past said gate, said means including an operated film-engaging member having a conveX film-engaging surface and mechanism for operating said member and having provision for` permitting it to complete its film-feeding movements yieldably, and a film-movement-limiting device located on that side of the gate toward the yieldable film-engaging member and having a concave surface of the same general contour as the convex surface of said film-engaging member against which concave surface the film is driven by the yieldable force of the said film-engaging member to cause the film to be arrested at the end of its stepping movements to insure registration of the same at the gate.

6. In motion picture apparatus, the combination' of a gate past which a film is fed, means for feeding the film to form a loop therein in advance of the gate, a beater having a convex film-engaging surface, means for operating the beater to cause it to feed the film intermittently from the loop past said gate, and a film-movement-limiting device located on that side of the gate toward the beater and having a concave surface of the same general contour as the convex surface of the beater against which concave surface the film is driven by the beater, the conveX film-engaging surface of the beater being provided with means to prevent the film adhering to the beater when the beater is lifted from the concave surface.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HENRY R. EVANS. 

